Ford Helps Teach Safe Driving Skills at Six Free Camps

In addition to buckling up, Ford is also teaching young people about the dangers of drunk driving, and safe driving skills.

Ford is making the roads safer not just by building better cars, but by also encouraging better driving. From July through early August, the automaker will be helping to teach more than 1,500 teens to learn key safe-driving skills at free camps in six states.

Advanced hands-on driver training will be held in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as part of the Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program. An estimated 1,500 teens will attend the camps, where they will learn the dangers of impaired driving by using a special suit and goggles that slow movement, blur vision, and reduce coordination—mimicking how it feels to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“More teen driving-related deaths tend to occur in June, July and August than any other month,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director at Governors Highway Safety Association, a DSFL partner. “So it’s particularly timely that Ford Driving Skills for Life is taking its show on the road, hitting six states during the heart of this dangerous driving season.”

Parents are encouraged to participate with their teens at the camp, which will also cover vehicle handling, speed and space management, and hazard recognition.